"Shut up."
Leng Xi suddenly slammed the book in his hand onto the table, looked up at Xiao Cui with a sullen face, and shouted angrily:
"You're just a little girl, and you dare to talk about the princess behind her back? You're so audacious! It seems like I've doted on you too much, allowing you to speak without restraint. If I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know your own limitations."
Seeing Leng Xi getting angry, Xiao Cui timidly shook her head and admitted her fault.
"Your Highness, I dare not speak ill of the Princess. I know I was wrong. I will do my duty now."
Leaving behind these unwilling words, Xiao Cui quickly got up from the ground and fled away.
Although he was angry about the girl's unfounded remarks about Qiaoqiao, he was even more puzzled by Qiaoqiao's inexplicable behavior.
Immediately, he walked out of the study and went straight to Yu Qiaoqiao's room.
In recent years, Yu Qiaoqiao has not only mastered her dancing skills, but has also mastered her embroidery skills to perfection.
Every night, she would pick up the embroidery needle and embroider a few stitches. Everything in her room was embroidered by her for herself.
On the bed stood the pair of tasseled mandarin duck embroidered pillows, the tiny daisies on the flower-patterned cushions, the solitary jasmine on the moonlit gauze curtains, the purse embroidered with white jade flowers and gold thread...
She embroidered every place in the room that could be embroidered. The fine stitches, the clear lines, and the lifelike pictures all demonstrated her embroidery skills.
At this moment, she was embroidering a hand warmer cover with a plum blossom pattern for Xiaobao's hand warmer.
Leng Xi pushed the door open without warning. Without even raising her head, she asked directly:
"You're becoming more and more unruly. Don't you even know to knock on the door before entering the house?"
Leng Xi frowned, walked up to her with his hands behind his back, and said in a cold voice:
"Should I knock on the door when I enter the house?"
Hearing his voice, Yu Qiaoqiao paused. The embroidery needle pierced her middle finger exactly, and a drop of bright red blood flowed out from her fingertip.
Just as she was about to wipe it with a handkerchief, Leng Xi suddenly pulled the injured finger away and put it directly into his mouth...
This action surprised Yu Qiaoqiao. She had never had such close contact with Leng Xi before. His sudden action made her feel indescribably sad.
The warmth from her fingertips spread throughout her body, and she couldn't help but tense up.
Leng Xi was also a little surprised. He didn't even know why he behaved like this. It seemed that it was beyond his control.
He paused there awkwardly. Yu Qiaoqiao quickly pulled her hand back, blushing and mumbling.
"Why...are you here?"
To ease the embarrassment, Leng Xi cleared his throat and said casually:
"I... let me take a look..."
Time seemed to stand still. It was the first time that Leng Xi felt nervous and embarrassed.
After pondering for a while, he finally asked:
"I heard that you ordered people to be on guard all night for the past two days. Why is that?"
Yu Qiaoqiao asked calmly with a faint smile on her face:
"Did those two girls complain to you? Or are you heartbroken?"
These words were obviously sour, and Leng Xi hurriedly explained:
"No, I just came to ask."
"I just want them to know that before you canonized them as concubines, they were always maids in the Xiwang Mansion. Don't try to climb over your master's head. Also, I was about to tell you that from now on, when you find a woman, marry her directly and openly as your concubine. Don't have any ambiguous relationships with these little girls. It not only damages your status, but also damages the reputation of the Xiwang Mansion."
At this point, Yu Qiaoqiao became a little excited. Before Leng Xi could speak, she continued:
"As the Prince of Daning, it's not impossible for you to marry a few concubines. There's nothing between you and me, and this matter has nothing to do with me. But I hope that as long as I'm in this position, you'll respect me. You think you're proud of sleeping with these girls, but I think it's a great humiliation. I've already found several well-known matchmakers in the capital and sent out marriage proposals on your behalf. On a chosen day, the matchmakers will send portraits of these respectable women. Then, you can choose a few of them and have them come to your house in a proper manner. You, the Prince of Xi, want to marry concubines. Not to mention marrying a lady from a famous family, you should marry a few ladies of similar status. Yet, you've been having affairs with a few girls. I really... really feel ashamed."
Yu Qiaoqiao's words made Leng Xi feel speechless for a moment.
He paused for a moment, frowned and replied:
"Don't worry about this matter. I don't have the heart to think about marrying a concubine right now."
"I don't want to worry about you. You should stop fooling around with those maids all day. Do you know what the servants in the mansion say about you? Not only do they say you're hungry and don't choose what to eat, but they also say I'm pure and unselfish. You may not care, but I do. I, Yu Qiaoqiao, don't want people to gossip about me behind my back, saying that I'm a pitiful woman who's worse than the maids in the mansion."
At this point, perhaps thinking of the sadness of these years, Yu Qiaoqiao's eyes began to turn red.
Leng Xi stood there in a daze. Yu Qiaoqiao's words were apparently for his own good, but secretly she was blaming him for his indifference towards her.
Over the years, no matter how indifferent he was to her, she never complained and kept the Prince Xi's Mansion in good order.
What had she done wrong? How was she inferior to those girls?
Over the years, he would occasionally reflect in his heart that in fact, what happened between him and Long Xiaomin had nothing to do with Yu Qiaoqiao. She just happened to appear at that time. Why did he put all the blame on her?
"sorry."
After thinking it over again and again, he finally said this sentence, but Yu Qiaoqiao seemed not to understand and just stood there in a daze.
Did he say sorry to her?
She felt that she must have heard it wrong. How could this man say the three words "I'm sorry" to someone else?
He continued:
"I've wronged you over the years. In my life, I, Leng Xi, feel the most sorry for two women: Long Xiaomin and you. Long Xiaomin has left me, and I have no chance to make amends in this life. If I let you down again, then I, Leng Xi, will truly become a wicked person."
Having said that, he sighed, and when he thought about what he had to do in half a month, there was a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
Yu Qiaoqiao would never have dreamed that Leng Xi would say these words to her.
She sat there somewhat bewildered, digging her fingers into her palms...
Leng Xi walked slowly to her side, put his hands on her shoulders, pulled her up, and when their eyes met, he said again:
"Qiaoqiao, you've been my Princess Xi for over ten years, but I've made you a widow for over ten years. Do you hate me?"
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